Townhouses on the Way as Student Village Expands in £23 Million Scheme

The University of the West of England’s Frenchay campus transformation is to continue into the New Year with a £23 million student accommodation development.

There are to be more than 550 bedrooms will be created in Wallscourt Park in a mixture of townhouses, apartments and studios.

Work will start in January and be complete by Easter 2017, adding to the 396 rooms built last year in the new village to the south of the campus.

Construction will run parallel to the development of a new £50 million Faculty of Business and Law centre and comes three months after the opening of UWE’s £9.8 million Students’ Union building.

The new accommodation, which represents the second phase in a three-stage development, will comprise 561 rooms in four, five and six storey buildings designed to complement neighbouring blocks. The scheme will include a laundry along with a common room for residents.

Preparatory works have already begun, with construction due to get underway next month. The first wave of students is expected to move in during September.

William Marshall, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Commercial Director and Corporation Secretary) at UWE, said, “Wallscourt Park offers a variety of good quality accommodation for students. Such accommodation is known to be a key factor in providing an enjoyable student experience. The first phase of Wallscourt Park has been a great success.”

In keeping with the first phase of the development, Capita will manage the project and Interserve Construction will deliver the scheme.

Paul Gale, Divisional Director for Interserve, said, “We are delighted to have been appointed by the University of the West of England to complete the next phase of their student accommodation.

“We share in the University’s vision of creating a positive student experience and recognise that the delivery of new, high quality student accommodation is a key part of the long term vision and masterplan of the University.

“Our team look forward to providing future students with a choice of living accommodation.”

Wallscourt Park is part of the UWE Bristol development plan, a vision to build a University for the 21st Century. The latest development, which provides a wider range of housing at lower rent levels than the existing accommodation on campus, will help meet the growing demand for high-quality rooms for first year students at Frenchay.

There is further student accommodation in four courtyards to the north of Frenchay campus: Brecon Court, Cotswold Court, Mendip Court and Quantock Court. The courtyards have up to seven blocks each with a total of 1,932 self-contained en-suite bedrooms.